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MONDAY, JANUARY 28, 2013
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
KANSAS TIPOFF
How unusual is this stretch of poor offense for Kansas? It's the lowest five-game scoring stretch since the 1981-82 season. Kansas coach Bill Self likes his teams to be able to grind out wins, but sooner or later the offense is going to need to turn on.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Naadir Tharpe. Guard
As long as Eliah Johnson continues to struggle, his backup, Naadir Tharpe, will keep getting chances to prove himself. Tharpe has provided a spark for the Jayhawks coming off the bench and is always a threat to pull up for a 3-pointer.
Can the Jayhawks' defense continue to dominate?
QUESTION MARK
The Mountaineers are averaging nearly 70 points per game, yet Kansas hasn't allowed a Big 12 opponent to score more than 60 points, with the exception of the overtime thriller against Iowa State.
BY THE NUMBERS
1
— This will be the first time Kansas and West Virginia meet in men's college basketball.
6
6 — Jeff Withey has registered more blocks this season (82) than six Big 12 teams.
48 Kansas leads the Big 12 in field goal percentage at 48 percent.
BIG JAY WILL CHEER IF...
Kansas scores more than seventy points. It hasn't happened since the Iowa State game and it seems the layhawks are struggling to get to just 60 points. It could only take one game for the offense to click. Is West Virginia that game?
KANSAS (18-1,6-0)
STARTERS
Withey
Jayhawks Travel to WVU Kansas makes their West Virginia debut
Releford
Young
NO. 3* KANSAS VS.WVU 8 P.M., WVU COLISEUM, MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA **RANKING AS OF PUBLICATION
JEFF WITHEY, CENTER
After not recording a single block against Kansas State, Withey came out and registered four on the first half against Diklahma. Kansas coach Bill Self said Withey's play on defense erases mistakes made on offense. He continues to be one of the best players in the nation.
Johnson
KEVIN YOUNG, FORWARD
McLemore
Young also bounced back from a lackluster outfall at K-State with three steals, five rebounds and six points against Oklahoma. Most importantly, he got back to his energetic ways and helped keep the Jahyhaws alive on offense.
ELIJAH JOHNSON, GUARD
Conference play has not brought out the best in Johnson. Since the start of Big 12 play, Johnson has not had a game with more than four made field goals. The Jayhawks' offensive woes certainly begin with him.
Reelford is the best defender on a team that has been living off its defense for the last six games. Not only has he shut down the opponent's best player every game, but he has done so without getting into foul trouble.
TRAVIS RELEFORD, GUARD
There is only one thing to gripe about from McLemore's performance against Oklahoma. He should never take only four shots in a half. McLemore is the most natural scorer the jayhawks boast and he needs to get aggressive and start shooting like it. But give the kid credit, he still ended up leading Kansas with 18 points.
BEN MCLEMORE, GUARD
WEST VIRGINIA
(9-10,2-4)
STARTERS
KEVIN NOREEN, FORWARD
The sophomore forward from Minneapolis, Minn. remains a small contributor to the team, but eventually could develop into a talent for the Mountainers down the road. He finished the last game playing only nine minutes with two points. Aaric Murray appears to the man getting the most minutes of all the front court players, but Noreen still provides contributions to the team.
Noreen
DENZI KILICLI, FORWARD
The senior from Turkey has turned into one of the more consistent scorers for West Virginia through his career. Kilieh's claim to fame is his iconic beard that lives in folklore of Mountaineers history, along with their mascot. He's a player with a unique skill set that can cause match-up problems against certain opponents.
Kilicli
ERON HARRIS, GUARD
One of the more crucial players for any of West Virginia's success this season, Harris continues to keep West Virginia competing in games. Harris led all Mountainer scorers in the game against Oklahoma State when he amassed 17 points. He also made five of eight 3-pointers in West Virginia's loss in Stillwater over the weekend. Harris continues to be one of the more consistent players with a team that is struggling on the offensive end of the floor.
★★★★
GARY BROWNE, GUARD
The sophomore from Puerto Rico played 23 minutes in the game against Oklahoma State and scored six points. This season, Browne is averaging 7.1 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game. Browne has also played with the Puerto Rican national team in the past and has some experience playing against some of the top point guards in the Big East and Big 12.
JABARIE HINDS, GUARD
Hinds
Harris
★★★☆★
A sophomore who started all 33 games last season, Hinds continues to be one of the more dependable players for the Mountaineers in an otherwise difficult transition year to a new conference. Hinds continues to be the man taking control of West Virginia. Many people around the program hope he can get them moving in the right direction with an improbable upset.
Browne
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Senior center Jeff Withey high fives his teammate senior guard Elijah Johnson after Saturday's game against Oklahoma at Allen Fieldhouse where the Jayhawks won 67-54.
PREDICTION Kansas 71,WVU64
Blake Schuster and Ryan McCarthy
WEST VIRGINIA TIPOFF
AT A GLANCI
Kansas travels to Morgantown with a four game lead over West Virginia in the conference standings. At the moment, the Mountaineers are in seventh place in a very down Big 12. There have been reports of frustration and some difficult practices around Bob Huggins' program in recent weeks as they attempt to save the season. If West Virginia can pull off this upset it will need great defense from all parts of the floor and will have to make outside shots. It looks grim for West Virginia.
PLAYER TO WATCH
Eron Harris, Guard
Harris
Harris remains the leading scoreer for the Mountaineers and really one of the only true threats to score consistently. Harris has led the team in scoring the last three
games. Harris also has eight games in double figures this year, shooting 46.3 percent. He's also averaging just fewer than 16 points in the past four match-ups.
QUESTION MARK
Can West Virginia actually pull off the upset?
The answer to this question is yes, because Kansas has never played in Morgantown before. You never know how a team will respond to a new road environment, but Bill Self's teams enjoy playing on the road. West Virginia beat a Top 3 ranked team at WVU Coliseum when they defeated UCLA on Feb. 10, 2007. It still will be a difficult task with two teams struggling on the offensive end of the floor.
BY THE NUMBERS
719 - Career wins for Bob Hu
Career wins for Bob Huggins. Currently he's tied with legendary University of Texas El Paso head coach Don Haskins at 19th place.
37-1 - The record of the Mountaineers under Bob Huggins when shooting 50 percent or higher.
80.7
307 - The percentage of time that West Virginia wins when an opponent visits for the first time.
BABY JAY WILL WEEP IF...
Somehow Kansas' offense gets worse than it already has been over the last five games. As Mike Vernon pointed out in his story on Saturday for the Topeka Capitol-Journal, "The Jayhawks have averaged 62.2 points in their past five outings, the lowest-scoring five-game stretch since Bill Self has been at Kansas. In fact, it's the lowest five-game stretch since the 1981-82 season when Ted Owens was Kansas' coach." If Kansas plays this game in the 50s, it could be ugly.